The Future and Fate of Times Beach Nature Preserve

September 2013

Published  ArtVoice 9/19/13

http://artvoice.com/issues/v12n38/greenwatch

Jay Burney

   

Times Beach is a 50 acres shoreline nature preserve in downtown Buffalo. It is situated on a historic, narrow strip of land and water at the convergence of Lake Erie, the Niagara River strait, and the Buffalo River. Its location is of great consequence, and unique in the Great Lakes.

From its trails, boardwalks and overlooks, you can see the splendid cacophony that our new downtown has become. You can absorb the wilderness of the waters. From here you can see, smell, and hear Buffalo’s history and future. Most importantly, it is part of a critical migration corridor and breeding area for an extremely wide variety of birds, pollinators, and other wildlife that make up the biodiversity the Great Lakes region.  Over 240 species of birds have been observed here. That is more than almost any other place in the Great Lakes.

Times Beach serves as the western gateway to the Niagara River Corridor “globally significant” Important Bird Area (IBA). This internationally recognized designation was created in 1996 by conservation organizations and governments in order to provide protections for migratory and breeding birds. Annual migrants can travel from the boreal forests and arctic coastlines of Alaska, the center of the North American continent, through this IBA, and on to the Mississippi, the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast, and into Central America.  Songbirds, waterfowl, raptors, gulls, and shorebirds depend on the natural resources of this region. Of the almost 300 species of birds found in our region, over 30 species of endangered, threatened, or birds of special concern depend on the IBA.  Some, such as the Bonaparte’s gull, abundant during fall migrations here, represent large portions of the global population. Our area, including Times Beach, is an important anchor of global biodiversity. The “globally significant” IBA designation positively compares us to places such as the Galapagos, the Everglades, Yellowstone, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Sadly, the ecological productivity of Times Beach has been in great decline in recent years. This is partly due to invasive species.  The Army Corps of Engineers has now undertaken an important project to restore the nature preserve.   Another cause has been outer harbor development that has included construction and schedules that pay no heed to avian risk. For instance construction of, Wilkeson Pointe Park, a beautiful public park next to the Times Beach, included dawn till dusk activity- big tractors, unabated noise, and 24/7 light intrusions which we think totally compromised the autumn shorebird migration at Times Beach, a usually highly reliable and ornithological notable event. Beyond that construction of a bike trail and a lawn right up to the Nature Preserves property line without attention to our long-standing request for an appropriate buffer went unheeded by the ECHDC. This is shameful disregard of an important nature preserve. We need, at least, to have “bird smart” planning and design on the waterfront.

The biodiversity protected by the Niagara River IBA, and Times Beach goes beyond birds. Many species of pollinators including migrating and breeding butterflies, bees, dragonflies, and amphibians, fish, mammals and more are supported by the local ecosystems that need protection and stewardship. This is important because biodiversity is the foundation of life on earth, and the quality of life of humans is wholly dependent upon a healthy environment.

Today we are witnessing new challenges to our regions biodiversity.  There are great and important plans that promote shoreline development in Buffalo, and will characterize our future for generations to come.  Much of the recent work on the outer harbor, the trails and the new parks has been tremendous boosts to our confidence and our opportunities to move proudly ahead.

Over the past few years’ public and private meetings have been held to help characterize how the outer harbor will be developed.  This exciting process has included public engagement that has focused on the importance of public access and open space on the waterfront, -as opposed to private development and limited access.  Much has been said about “ecological sustainability” and the importance of supporting the foundation of what is inarguably our most valuable resource- the freshwaters and the ecosystems that support it. One fifth of the earths remaining fresh surface water are located in the Great Lakes. The future of life on earth depends on the quality and quantity of these waters. Our region, and Buffalo’s waterfront play critical roles. We, the local humans that make the decisions about our relationships with these resources have a great responsibility to the future.

One of the significant strategies advocated by many including Riverkeeper has been a focus on what is referred to as “Blue Economy”. The origins of this concept stretches back to work by the developers of the Niagara Corridor IBA.  We recognized then that we could promote economic development by focusing on true conservation strategies promote our regions natural resources with conservation strategies and develop ecotourism strategies -the largest and fastest growing sector of the tourism market.  We have demonstrated that we can capture an enormous bird watching market, as well as the recreational sector that includes boating, camping, hiking, and touring.  Add to this the concepts of aggressive land conservancy, an Erie Niagara Marine Sanctuary, A National Shoreline, educational and research investments such as a Niagara Bird Observatory, A Great Lakes “Woods Hole” Institute promoting sustainable waters, and connect to ongoing educational and research investments, cultural and heritage tourism strategies, and we will be engaging in conservation as a central part of our economic development strategy. This is a vision of a long-term sustainable future that will help to float everyone’s boat.

Today, I am sad to say that Times Beach Nature Preserve is threatened.

This past summer the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation and the City of Buffalo released a segmented Outer Harbor Brownfield Opportunity Area plan (The development plan for the outer harbor) that includes most of the outer harbor water front in one section (South) , and a downtown oriented entertainment and commercial district (North).  This segmentation was advocated by many public commenter’s during the scoping process that was begun over two years ago. The idea was to promote downtown density, and to help focus public access and open space as opposed to private development in the outer harbor areas.  Unfortunately for Times Beach, the end of Fuhrmann Blvd that includes Times Beach, and the new Wilkeson Pointe Park have been included in the North Zone- aka-commercial and entertainment district. This plan includes residential development around Times Beach.

Recent announcements and actions by governor Cuomo include new state parks on the outer harbor. This can be a good thing. But less reported in the governors announcement include two high rise condo’s at Wilkeson Pointe Park adjacent to Times Beach, and up to 400 acres of shovel ready property for mixed use (commercial and residential) stretching from the Seaway Pier, to Dougs Dive at the small boat harbor.  The Friends of Times Beach is advocating what can more or less be described as “bird smart” development strategies, but these ideas have not gained much traction with the decision makers.

We applaud the idea of open space, and think appropriate investments of the Buffalo Billion, encouraging ecological sustainability for instance, is a best investment for the economic future of our region. Why not filter some of this money into improved infrastructure for the Buffalo Sewer Authority, which according to Artvoice partner, the Investigative Posts dumps up to FOUR BILLION gallons of untreated sewerage into local waterway each year. Local EPA administrator Judith Enck, says that this degrades the waters, makes fish inedible, and smells bad. Western Lake Erie is already a dead zone because of algae mats fostered by poor planning and inadequate water treatment strategies.  This dead zone is creeping our way.

We must better learn the deep connections between places like Times Beach, the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers, healthy Great Lakes, a healthy planet and a thriving human population. Our urban experiences, plans, and strategies characterize the present and future of these assets. If the dead zone gets here we can say goodbye to our most profound asset for generations or longer.

Conservation is a valuable tool that may make or break our economic future and capacity. Learning about this kind of fundamental sustainability teaches us that we must become the best stewards. This is an emergency.

Jay Burney is the founder of the learning sustainability campaign, GreenWatch, and  a founding member of the Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve, and served as the chair of the Niagara River Globally Significant Important Bird Area Coalition.

Thinking like a Region in a Globalized World.

Thinking like a Region in a Globalized World.

September 13, 2013

www.learningsustainability.com/economy.html

Economic decisions and strategies are all based in political contexts, and are programs designed and characterized by human initiatives.  

Regional and local economies strengthen communities by keeping more dollars local; by promoting participation in the economy by individuals and organized business interests that care about local quality of life including the environment; and by promoting the well-being of the humans that live in the region. A local economy is the most sustainable economy. A strong local economy makes for a strong, livable,  and thriving region. This is a fundamental issue of local and regional security.

The politics of economics often determine the strength of local economies. Globalized interests such as multi-nationals often have little interest in the quality of life of the communities in which they extract profits. Those profits allow for large scale political control which tend to focus almost exclusively on wealth building for the global interests and not for the communities effected or the people that live there. You may have heard of statistics that say that in the United States the top 1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%, or that as few as 500 individuals control as much wealth as 50% of the American population, or more than 150 million people. Those are staggering figures that point to a widening divide between the rich and the poor. This reality does little to solve cultural problems such as poverty and social unrest.  Working toward creating strong local economies as opposed to allowing local wealth to be extracted by global interests is a sustainable political strategy. 

A Sustainable Economy recognizes the importance of environment and society and understands that the environment is the bottom line. The environment and social costs are not externalized. It is connected to a variety of social, political, historic, cultural, and environmental contexts. A sustainable economy promotes the best case human quality of life strategies by defending the environment and bringing the best value to communities by stressing equity, justice, and participation.

Economic Security is a fundamental context of a sustainable future. How to create a strong platform for that security is challenging to local economies. This is due in great part to globalization strategies that use local economic extraction formula's to bolster growth.

Economic Globalization is a political strategy promoted by fundamental free market capitalism.  This form of capitalism believes that the marketplace will correct all errors, including environmental and social collapse. This political strategy embraces the hidden hand that eliminates regulation and promotes profit at the expense of environment and social issues. These issues, which have a tremendous economic impact, are considered "external costs" that are not recognized as part of the free market system.

Economic Globalization promotes a non-local concentration of wealth and power that does not always respect  the best interests of the environment and society, two of the three pillars of sustainability. Environmental and cultural costs of economic development -the "externalities",   are not factored into the real costs of economic development. These external costs including environmental degradation and social costs such as degraded human health costs that are often associated with economic practices (such as man made toxics released into the environment, and habitat loss which effects clean air and water)  are costs that are born by the overall society. These costs include subsidies such as taxation, unequal access to health care, low wages, and crumbling communities.    This is not a sustainable economic model. 

A sustainable locally based Economy brings the most benefit to the most people. It helps to narrow the divide between the rich and the poor. It is at the heart of an economic strategy that represents a path to a future that works.